There Goes My Hero
by LeastStealthyBrah
Summary: Konoka runs a manga shop with three of her closest friends, lives with a quirky and crazy best friend, and also has an issue when it come to relationships...Will all that change after visiting her odd little grandfather?
1. A Little Theory Goes A Long Way

**Alright so this story is a little side project I'll be working on alongside Power Play! It'll be updated slightly less frequently than P.P.**

**I hope you all enjoy this, I've had this idea rolling around the ol' noggin around the same time I stared P.P.**

**Let me know what you think!**

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**There Goes My Hero**

**Chapter 1**

**A Little Theory Goes A Long Way**

"_Looks like this is my win...accept your fate, you evil vampire scum!" _

"_NEVER! You may have won this round half-blood, but next time you won't be so lucky! Until we meet again!"_

"Well, I see what you're trying to do here Konoka...it's definitely a good start for what looks like a promising manga." smiled the girl with the glasses as she placed the rough drafted story back down on the desk. "I gotta admit, you're style of drawing has totally gotten a lot better since high school. I'm impressed!"

"Thanks Haruna, I'm trying my best..." replied Konoka as she playfully spun around in her chair. "I figured I may as well try out my own manga, considering I'm surrounded by it all day."

Surrounded by manga was an understatement; these girls were practically living and breathing the stuff with their line of work. Endless Reality is a little manga and comic book shop, complete with a quaint little coffee bar located in downtown Tokyo. The store itself had been the long time dream of one Haruna Saotome for a great number of years; ever since Konoka Konoe could remember, that was all her glasses clad friend would talk about. It had taken a lot of work and a lot of patience when it came to convincing their other two friends with degrees in business, Yue Ayase and Nodoka Miyazaki, that this would be a chance for them to invest in something great; but they finally managed to do it. Haruna's dream had become a reality only a few short years ago, and since then there was no looking back. Their little shop had become the most popular manga and comic provider in the whole city, offering all the latest hits as well as many of the more rare items. It probably didn't hurt either that the four girls running and working the place were easy on the eyes; which was more often than not how they brought in so many customers.

Konoka Konoe was your average girl; she was moderately intelligent and held a double degree in World History and Astronomy with which she had no idea what to do with upon graduating from University. She was fairly pretty with her chocolate brown eyes and hair to match that seemed to flow endlessly, proving to be just the perfect thing to draw attention to the rest of her curvy form. Despite being attractive in both appearance and in personality, Konoka had yet to land any relationship that lasted past the first few dates. It seemed like every guy that she tried to get involved with just wasn't what she was looking for. It was like they were missing something or just didn't have what it took to keep the girl's attention. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find that one person to click with and she was growing more and more frustrated as each failed date came and went. If she didn't find that person soon, she was going to just give up and run off to the mountains to live alone as a hermit.

"Anyway, I just finished putting out the new shipment of stuff we got this morning..." sighed Haruna happily as she made a move for the door. "I'm so glad that we're closed for the holiday tomorrow...now I'll have time to get to read some of the newer volumes I've added to my collection..."

"Not gonna lie Haruna...the stuff you have in your collection scares the shit out of me..." laughed Konoka as she collected up her things and followed her out. "...the hentai stuff you love so much just doesn't really do it for me..."

"Oh come on Konoka, it's not so bad..." replied the girl with glasses.

"How is looking at someone getting raped by an alien with a hundred tentacles not bad?" asked the chocolate haired girl with a confused expression on her face.

Haruna smirked deviously as she answered. "Weeeeeell...it all depends on how you look at it..."

As the two friends made their way back up the short hallway to the front of their store, they continued to debate the need for a good alien rape scenario. They were so into it that they didn't even realise they were back out front next to the cash. Konoka laughed as she looked around and saw a few customers staring at them with questioning looks. She quickly threw her hand over Haruna's mouth to signal for her to stop as she apologized for what they had probably overheard. Of course, the guys automatically waved it off as if it was nothing and continued to glance over at them periodically. When running a business, it sometimes paid off to be attractive young women.

It was now time for Konoka to head back home, so she waved and said her goodbyes to Haruna and Yue, who had made it her priority to work the cash to ensure that her investment ran smoothly, before heading over to the coffee bar. It was odd for such a thing to be inside a store like this, but Nodoka had insisted on putting one in, saying that it would only make their business that much better considering it would be a unique feature. The other three girls knew that it was just an excuse for their extremely cute friend to parade around the store wearing little maid outfits and act all shy to draw in customers. Konoka had to hand it to her friends; they sure knew how to run things. She quickly grabbed a latte and sent her friend a warm smile before heading out the door to catch the next bus back to her apartment.

After what seemed like the longest bus ride home she'd ever taken, Konoka finally came to a stop in front of her door. She reached into her pocket and began to fish around for her keys, cursing to herself when she didn't find them instantly. Finally after checking every single pocket twice, she tore open her bag to find the elusive keys hanging out at the bottom. She face palmed as she picked them up and inserted them into the lock. The door swung open and she stepped inside, relieved that she was finally home and had the entire day off tomorrow. Konoka dropped her bag where she stood before running over to the couch and flopping down in a huff. It was now time to relax and forget about everything. Just as she was beginning to enjoy herself, the silence around her was broken as a door down the hall creaked open to reveal a shabby and tired looking red head.

"Mornin'..." yawned the sleepy girl in question as she made her way to the fridge to throw back some milk straight from the carton.

Konoka smiled and rolled her eyes as she sat back up. "Morning? Damn Asuna, It's six in the evening...most of us have already been awake and at work for hours now..."

Asuna laughed as she tossed the milk back to its' spot. "Hey now...just because I don't work during the day doesn't mean you can make fun of me..."

"Ahh yes, the life of a bartender is one that harbours much difficulty..." said Konoka sarcastically.

"Damn straight it does..." replied Asuna as she shot a playful look to her friend. "You're lucky we've been best buds since birth or else I'd have popped you one by now..."

It was true; Konoka had known the fiery red head for the better part of her twenty-five years of life. They had been through everything together, including that messed up and painful period of time Asuna had gone through with her family when she had decided to come out and announce to them that she was, in her own words, extremely gay. She had been right by her friend's side, providing her with a place to stay in her own home when her parents kicked her out as well as a good shoulder to cry on when she had her harder days. Konoka was also there to watch her friend overcome that hardship, and move forward with a new and powerful sense of self. It was Asuna's idea to move out together as soon as Konoka got accepted to university and had even offered to pay the majority of the rent while she was in school by taking up the bartending job. School just wasn't something that was suited for the red head, and she quickly came to like the busy and exciting night life she became a part of. One thing was for certain; Konoka's life would be a whole lot more boring if it wasn't for Asuna's quirky and crazy antics.

"By the way...how did your date with whats-his-douche go last night?" asked Asuna as she sat down in a heap next to her friend. "Any walk of shame home this morning?"

Konoka gave the red head a dirty look before playfully punching her in the arm. "Why do you have to say things like that...you're just as bad as Haruna sometimes..."

Asuna just squinted back. "Now, now...answer the question..."

"It failed...as usual..." sighed Konoka as she brought her head down to rest on Asuna's lap. She put on a pout and crossed her arms. "I'm beginning to think that there's something wrong with me..."

"Well, I have a theory..." replied Asuna with a smug tone. She watched as Konoka shot her a warning look, already knowing what was about to come out of her friends mouth. "Come on hear me out..."

"Fine..." said Konoka while resting her arm over her eyes, instantly regretting her answer as soon as it came out.

"It's because you're totally gay..." began Asuna, ignoring the loud groan from her friend as she continued. "I mean think about it...no guy ever seems to be what you're looking for, you never talk about any man's looks like the other girls at the shop do, you've never actually slept with a guy and keep making random excuses for why you don't...and then there's your drawings..."

Konoka sat up instantly before turning to look her friend in the eyes. "What about my drawings makes me gay Asuna?"

The red head clicked her tongue before getting up and heading over to Konoka's discarded bag. She then pulled out the drawings that Konoka had shown Haruna earlier and made her way back to the couch, where she flopped down with a look of triumph on her face. "Here...just look at all the detail you put into drawing your female characters, which by the way seem to be the only gender you draw..."

Konoka grabbed her papers and stared at them. "I still don't see what your point is..."

"Well just look at your main heroine here..." began Asuna as she pointed to the character in question. "You seem to have put a lot of effort into making this one look attractive...I mean, she's a little too masculine for my taste in women, but I guess that sort of works for you..."

Konoka stared down at the character on the page. Sure she had spent a lot of time coming up with her design as well as her characters half human, half demon persona, but she had to make sure she got everything she pictured her story's hero to look like out of her head and onto the paper. The drawn out girl was slender, but had the build of an athlete, accompanied by dark eyes and raven black hair. It had taken Konoka a long time to work out the way that her character's hair should look, as the usual styles just didn't seem to go with her looks. After many eraser marks and crumpled up balls of paper later, Konoka had finally decided on making it shoulder length but tied up in a ponytail sitting on the side of her head. As soon as she finished drawing her out, the chocolate haired girl became extremely satisfied with her work and couldn't wait to start her manga with her.

"Just because I pay attention to detail, doesn't mean I'm into girls..." sighed Konoka. For some reason she felt her cheeks warm up and quickly turned away to find the remote for the T.V.

"Alright, you can deny it all you want..." laughed Asuna as she noticed a slight tinge of red in Konoka's features. "But I'm usually right on with my gaydar...and I keep getting some interesting interference from you..."

With that Asuna pushed herself up from the couch and made her way back down the hall to the bathroom to start getting ready for work and grab a shower. As soon as she heard the water come on, Konoka grabbed her drawings again and looked them over. She could see why Asuna used these against her; she did put a lot of detail into creating the hero of her story. It wasn't her fault though, it's just what came to mind when the whole idea for a manga popped into her head. Still, there was something that drew her attention to the dark features staring up at her from the paper. Was it possible that Asuna's half baked idea on her sexual preference was right? She had never really thought about it before, but it would explain a lot of things in her life. She shook her head and laughed that she had even considered the proposal to be true. Konoka was just in a slump when it came to guys, that was all...

Half an hour later, Asuna popped back out of the bathroom with a surprised look on her face when she saw Konoka still sitting on the couch watching T.V.

"Uhhh...what are you still doing here?" She questioned as she ran a towel through her hair. She suddenly stopped. "Don't tell me you forgot...frig, even I remembered..."

Konoka turned around and leaned over the back of the couch to look at her friend in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Asuna face palmed. "Weren't you supposed to meet up with your weird little grandfather for dinner tonight?"

Konoka's eyes grew wide before she shot up from the couch and made a grab for her things. "Shit! I completely forgot about that tonight! Oh man, I hope he isn't upset that I'm late..."

Asuna laughed as she watched her friend scramble for her things. "Well, if you leave right now you'll make it just in time!"

Konoka quickly waved to Asuna before shoving her shoes back onto her feet. In a quick blur, she made her way out the door and chose to run down the stairs instead of waiting for the unreliable elevator to decide if it wanted to work today. As soon as she got outside, she ran for the bus that was just about to leave, hoping on as the doors started to close. She smiled and pumped her fist in victory as the bus pulled away from the stop and made its' way down the street.

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Konoka took had just finished her last bite of the meal her grandfather had prepared for her and sat back in her chair in defeat. Every time she came to visit the old man, she left feeling like she gained twenty extra pounds. She couldn't help but overdo it though; her grandfather was a pretty good cook, despite his ancient age. Cooking wasn't the only thing that the old man took an interest in and one look around his little house was proof of that. Konoka sighed as she took in all of the odd looking things around her that she had come to recognize growing up around this house.

Old man Konoe was heavily involved in magic and all forms of witchcraft and had been long before Konoka was even born. His tiny home was filled with hundreds of books on the subject as well as things he claimed to be spells and various ingredients for potion making and the like. Konoka had grown up thinking that this stuff was a little weird, but she was more open to it than her red headed friend was. Asuna thought the whole magic thing was completely ridiculous and always turned down any invitations when she was invited over for dinner from Konoka. It wasn't because she didn't like the old man, it was just that she thought he was weird and was oddly energetic for a man pushing the ripe old age of one hundred.

Old man Konoe finished collecting up the dishes and placed them carefully in the sink before heading back to his seat across from his stuffed granddaughter. He looked up at her and smiled as she sent him one in return. "So...how's the manga business these days? Anything new and exciting happening down at the store?"

"Oh same old, everything's working out well...we just got a bunch of new stuff in today and Haruna seemed pretty excited about it." sighed Konoka happily. "Although, I didn't get a chance to look at most of it today...kinda wish I made a little more time for that..."

Her grandfather laughed. "You always did like reading those things, ever since you were a tiny little thing, I always saw you walking around with your nose stuck inside those books...you even spent more time reading those than playing with the boys on your street. Speaking of boys..."

_Oh gods...here we go..._

"What about them gramps?" asked Konoka innocently.

Every time she came over, her grandfather took it upon himself to pry into her love life. He was always so concerned about the well being of his only granddaughter, and simply wished for her to find someone to settle down with who could make her happy. He grew more and more concerned every year that Konoka remained without at least a boyfriend and worried that he would leave this earth without seeing his granddaughter truly happy.

"Well..." he began as she ran his hand over his long beard. "Have you met anyone interesting lately? You're such a pretty girl...you must have a hard time dealing with all the date proposals you must get..."

Konoka rolled her eyes as she sat back up in her seat. "Gramps...we've been through this every time I visit...I haven't found anyone yet and I'm starting to think that I'm just meant to be alone...none of the guys I date do it for me...no matter who they are, they all seem to be boring and I always find something about them that I don't like..."

"Perhaps...you are being a little too picky?" he replied with a playful eyebrow raise.

Konoka shook her head and laughed. "I don't think so...it's hard to explain, but they all just didn't feel right. I guess I'm just waiting for that one special person to come in and save the day..."

"I think you read too many stories about super heroes..." joked the old man.

"Speaking of superheroes..."

Konoka got up out of her seat and made her way over to her bag next to the door. She unzipped it and pulled out her binder full of the drawings she had completed, along with the rough drafted story to bring over to show her grandfather. She smiled as she handed them to him, nodding for him to take a look. The old man smiled back as he accepted the binder before placing it down of the table to go over it. Konoka always appreciated her grandfather's input on everything she did; especially since he was the only family that she had left after her parents passed away in a car accident just as she started university. She looked up to him and knew that no matter how annoyed she got at him for various things, that she would always love the odd old man.

Her grandfather smiled as he finished up and closed the binder. "I do have to say that you have some real talent Konoka."

"Thanks gramps, I really do try my best..." she replied as she once again collected up her binder. Konoka then glanced up at the clock and sighed. "It's getting pretty late...I should probably head out before I miss the last bus for the night."

"Alright, you be careful now..." he got up and made his way over to his granddaughter to give her a comforting farewell hug. "I love you dear."

"I love you too gramps." she replied while leaning down slightly to kiss him on the forehead before waving and heading out the door.

Once the door closed, Old man Konoe got to work. He quickly made his way around the room collecting up various items and one large, extremely old looking leather bound book. With arms and hands full, he then proceeded to his bedroom where he gently placed down his haul on a nearby desk. The old man then made his way over to what deceivingly looked to be a closet and opened up its' doors. A large smile spread across his wrinkled face as he stared down at magical work space. There were odd looking assortments of stones, viles, as well as symbols scratched into the ancient looking wooden table. He quickly turned around to grab the things he had collected before bringing them to their final resting place on the table. With his hands becoming a blur as he began to add random bits of things together in a large wooden bowl, he began to recite an ancient spell from his now open book. When he finished, he picked up a handful of the dried, mixed items and prepared to throw them on the ground before him.

"Now...let's see what's really going on in Konoka's heart..."

With that, he yelled the last few words of the spell and threw the mix on the floor; watching as various colours burst out in a mini explosion all over his room. The colourful smoke began to gather in a weird mirror-like circle in front of him. For a moment, all was quiet expect for the odd swishing sounds escaping from the magical cloud. Finally, the old man raised his eye brow and let out a small chuckle as he took in the sight being shown to him from the depths of his granddaughter's heart.

"Well...would you look at that..." he said as he continued to laugh to himself. "I always had a feeling that's what it was...although, considering how long it took for this magic to find it...I doubt that even Konoka really knows she feels this way...Whatever makes her happy makes me happy and I'll support her no matter what. However, with the way she's going about things now...she'll never find true happiness...there must be something I can do..."

With a snap of his fingers the visual passageway to Konoka's heart closed off and vanished. The old man then proceeded to scratch at his beard in an attempt to focus and think about the ways he could get the ball rolling in his granddaughter's love life. His mind seemed to have thought back to the drawings Konoka had always shown him and noticed the great amount of detail she tried to put into making each character look perfect. However what caught his attention the most was this newest character she had come up; she was the most detailed and carefully thought out one yet and the old man knew that his granddaughter must have been thinking about her for a long time; there definitely was something about that drawn out girl that made him feel like Konoka was drawn to her. Suddenly, an idea blasted its' way to the forefront of his thoughts. He quickly made his way back to the table and started flipping through the ancient text to see if his idea was possible. After a few moments of searching, he finally found what he had been looking for. He glanced it over and noticed that it was hard to read some of the ingredients he would need because the wording was so faded. He shrugged it off, basically getting what needed out of the directions.

Once again the old man's hands became a blur as he threw more things together. This was the first time he'd ever attempted a spell like this one and he found it to be one of the more difficult ones he'd ever done. He kept glancing over to his book, adding things in as they were called for, doing his best to recite the words at the same time. He was so concentrated on the words that he failed to see that the spell called for only a small amount of blackened powder and instead, threw in a large handful. The old man continued on without noticing, completely unaware of the consequences that would arise from this small mistake.

Once completed, he recited the last few words before giving the dried mixture a shake. He then took a picture of Konoka he had from his bedside table and laid it down on the wooden table, dumping the mix on top of it with a final incantation...

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Konoka turned the lights off as she entered her room, stretching as she made her way to her bed. It had been a long day filled with way too many cramped up bus rides and she felt as if she could pass out at any minute. She was sure to leave out some snacks for Asuna in the kitchen for when she got off work before getting ready for bed. She knew that her friend would most likely be starving when she got back from her long night's work making drinks at the local gay bar. Konoka flopped down on her bed and laughed to herself as she wondered if she should have put out some extra in case Asuna ended up bringing someone home. It would be like Asuna to get so lucky...she was a bit of a tease down at the bar.

After lying there for a few moments, the chocolate haired girl pulled down the blankets and slipped under them, ready for a good night's sleep. She smiled as she looked over to her desk where her drawings binder lay, excited to have a whole day to work on new adventures for her what was slowly becoming her favourite character. As the thoughts of those ideas swam around in her head, Konoka let out one final yawn before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Little did she know that only a few kilometres away, her grandfather had put into motion something so big, that it would no doubt change not only her life, but the lives of those around her. As she gently turned over in her sleep, she failed to notice a light glow emulating from her binder on the desk. The light went from being barely visible to blinding in an instant before fading back to darkness. All of the pages that were once filled with the drawings of all of her characters...were now blank...

Laying passed out on the couch, completely unaware of the new world around her...was a visitor for Konoka...


	2. The New Roommate's A Half Demon

**Alright guys, here's chapter two of TGMH. I've gotten into some more character stuff and got the ball rolling on the main plot of the story**

**Also, the feel for this story is going to be a mix of comedy and little amounts of horror...it's weird I know...but trust me, I think it's a good mix**

**Hope you like it and feel free to let me know what you think!**

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**There Goes My Hero**

**Chapter 2**

**The New Roommate's A Half Demon...**

"Man...what another awesome night at the bar..." sighed Asuna happily as she came to a stop outside of her apartment door. The tired red head yawned and stretched out her arms before shoving her hand down into her pocket to retrieve her key. "I mean, I know it's a holiday and all today...but damn, it was busy..."

Asuna quietly unlocked the door and stepped in, locking it up behind her after hearing it click shut. She left the lights off and headed straight for the kitchen, already knowing that Konoka had left her out something to eat for when she got in. She smiled to herself as she saw that tonight, she would gorge herself on peanut butter cookies that Konoka must have picked up from the bakery down the street on her way home from her grandfather's. They were the red head's favorite treat, and she felt even more grateful to her best friend for thinking about her for the billionth time in their long relationship. As she bit into one, her body finally gave in, and she started to relax. Asuna glanced up to the clock on the microwave and noticed that it was only four in the morning and she was gaining a second energetic wind.

_Man...I don't really wanna go to bed yet, but there's nothing to do...I wish blondy woulda stopped by the bar tonight...I coulda used her company right about now..._

Asuna was referring to her on-again-off-again fling she had with a friend of hers, going back to her early years of middle school. Ayaka Yukihiro was actually the first girl the red head ever slept with, and was also the first girlfriend she had ever had. The two were completely different from one another, what with Ayaka being from an extremely wealthy family who was deeply involved with the government and Asuna's family being your average blue collar type. They had been together throughout most of middle school, and probably would have stayed that way too if it wasn't for the fact that Asuna had a need to come out of the closet and tell her family. Ayaka had refused, saying that she wasn't ready for her parents to find out and that she was afraid of what would happen not only to herself, but to her family with the shame she would no doubt bring to them. Not being able to lie anymore, the red head broke it off with the blonde in order to protect her before going off and telling her own family.

The two hadn't spoke for quite some time after that, and it wasn't until they graduated from high school, as well as having a few relationships a piece later, that they picked up where they left off. Unlike Asuna, Ayaka had gone off to university overseas, making it hard to hold a solid relationship. Therefore, both had decided at that time to be open to other opportunities while they were separated, but got together whenever it was possible. Upon graduating from university, the blonde came back home and set up in Tokyo in relatively the same area Asuna and Konoka were situated. Though they now had every chance possible to be together, Ayaka still had her family's reputation to uphold. It wasn't often now, but every once in a while the red head would catch the sight of perfect, long blonde hair swoop in through her bar's front door. When she saw it, she knew that she would be in for a good night.

While Asuna stood leaning over the counter eating her cookies and running through the images and memories of Ayaka in her head, she failed to notice the pillows from the couch oddly scattered on the floor. Konoka was fairly neat so if the red head was paying attention, she would have noticed that something was wrong. There was a faded outline of a shadow slowly making its' way around the room, circling around quietly behind Asuna as it entered into the kitchen. It paused momentarily and crouched down, as if waiting for its' chance. Then suddenly, there was a flash of light from the moon outside the window reflecting off some sort of metal as a dark figure lunged out for the unsuspecting girl in front of it.

"HEY WHAT THE FU-..." shouted out Asuna before she felt a hand cover her mouth. She tried to scream as she realized that she was now being attacked by what was most likely a home invader. Her scream fell silent though as the sharp end of a katana came to a rest mere centimeters away from her throat.

"You...you must be the one who has done this to me!" said an angry and husky female voice. The owner of that voice squeezed Asuna in tighter before continuing. "Why did you do it? Are you one of the minions of that low life vampire?"

Asuna managed to squirm her face away from the rough yet slender hand to free her mouth to respond. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT...VAMPIRE? THERE'S NO SUCH THINGS AS VAMPIRES! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

"That's none of your concern!" replied the voice as the grip the mysterious girl had around Asuna loosened. "If you say you aren't a minion, then I shall, despite my better judgement...believe you at this time...besides, there's more important things to worry about now..."

"YEAH, LIKE ME CALLING THE COPS ON YOUR ASS!" yelled Asuna.

The red head quickly stomped her foot down and managed to connect with the girl's own foot, allowing an opportunity to get out of the hold she was in and make a break for the phone. The girl was on her fast though, and caught up to her immediately, trying her best to subdue the troublesome red head in the fastest and gentlest way possible. Before Asuna knew what was going on, the mystery girl had her pinned to the ground on her back and was now sitting on top of her. The girl's back was turned away from the bedrooms, and she was now concentrating on calming Asuna down.

"Look, there's no need to call in any more authorities..." whispered the girl calmly. "...they won't be able to help anyway...not with the power that blood sucker has...I must have been called to this strange place for a reason...there's no doubt that it's because I have to hunt her down..."

"FOR THE LAST GODS DAMN TIME...THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS VAMPIRES!" yelled Asuna as she continued to struggle. "YOU'RE JUST SOME WEIRDO PROBABLY HERE TO STEAL OUR SHIT!"

Meanwhile down the hallway, Konoka began to stir awake as she heard loud noises and yelling coming from the living room. She sat up slowly and yawned, stretching out as she began to stand up. She reached down to her bedside table and picked up her phone to check the time. Konoka then cursed in her head as she saw that it was only a little after four in the morning and that the noise must be Asuna and by the sounds of it, some girl she brought home with her from the bar. She made for the door in irritation and swung it open, making her way down the short hallway quickly and stopping in front of the light switch as she heard Asuna yell something about vampires. Konoka sighed angrily and turned to the switch to flick the light on.

"Geeze Asuna, it's friggin four in the morning..." began Konoka as she slowly turned around. "I mean...I know you like role playing sometimes and all...but keep your vampire fantasy crap in your own ro-..."

Konoka stopped speaking as her eyes fell on the scene before her. There was some oddly familiar looking girl sitting on top of Asuna, who was clearly struggling to get away. She was about to yell thinking that they were being attacked by some creep, when the mystery girl turned her head to glance at whoever belonged to the new voice. It was as if time itself had ceased to exist. Konoka was dumbstruck as she looked upon the little bit of face she could see looking up at her. It was the eyes that set her off; something about those dark eyes seemed to draw her in right away. At first, she couldn't believe it as there was no way it could ever be possible. Even staring right at the girl now seemed to Konoka like she was stuck in a very real feeling dream. She slowly reached up to pinch herself, and upon feeling the pain, realized that all of this was in fact happening. Her eyes then grew wide as the girl slowly got up off of Asuna and made her way towards her. Konoka was still frozen when the girl came to a stop a few feet away and reached for her hand.

"You...I-I know you somehow..." said the girl. "You...you were the one who created me..."

Konoka gulped and continued to stare. "There's...there's no way this is possible..."

The girl nodded. "I don't know how or why...but somehow...I was summoned here..."

Konoka quickly glanced behind the woman and found that Asuna had gotten up off the floor and made a lunge for a bat she kept next to the door. She was about to come flying back at the mysterious girl in order to knock her out while her back was turned. Konoka quickly dodged around the girl and held up her arms for Asuna to stop and drop the bat. The red head skidded to a halt and stared at her roommate.

"Konoka! What the hell are you doing?" yelled Asuna in a confused tone.

Konoka glanced over her shoulder to the girl behind her and smiled awkwardly. "I-I don't know how to tell you this...but I know who this is...ummmm, Asuna...I'd like you to m-meet Setsuna Sakurazaki...I uh...how the hell do I even put this...well...I sort of...drew her..."

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After a half an hour or so of trying to calm Asuna down and convince her that she wasn't being crazy, Konoka sat down on the couch in a huff. The chocolate haired girl sighed; she was doing pretty good at holding everything together, considering her whole reality was being called into question based on the fact that her once fictional and drawn out character was now alive and kneeling on the ground beside her. When Asuna had yelled at her and said that she must be going crazy after telling the red head that Setsuna was actually a character she had drawn up, Konoka had wanted to believe that the statement was true. There was no possible way to explain this, and the more she thought about it the more it made her head hurt. All she knew was that when she reached out and took Setsuna's hand into her own, she physically felt the real touch of warm skin. That was more than enough to confirm that Setsuna was real.

"So...let me get this straight, now that I don't have an urge to beat the lights out of the newbie here..." began Asuna from across the coffee table in an arm chair. "You're telling me...that somehow...somehow a character you drew for your manga came to life...and is now actually sitting here...RIGHT HERE...in our living room with us?"

"Yes..." sighed Konoka again as she continued to make glances over to Setsuna, afraid that whenever she looked away the swordswoman would disappear.

"And...she's a good guy..." continued the red head.

"Well yeah...I mean...she was the hero and all..." said Konoka in a very natural tone that seemed to surprise her. Apparently, it was a completely normal thing for this to happen.

Setsuna had now gotten up and began wondering around the apartment, scouting out all of the exits and taking note of her approximate coordinates using the stars outside of the living room window. She wasn't sure how she had managed to go from her own world to the weird one she was in now, but at least there were some similarities between the two. The layout of the stars was exactly the same as the layout in her world; this was because Konoka was an Astronomy major and even in something like a manga, she had to stay true to the proper constellations. The swordswoman continued to stare out into the city, trying to take everything in she could about her surroundings. From the looks of it, she was in some sort of very busy area, full of people walking around at all hours of the day and buildings just as tall as the ones from her world. The one difference that Setsuna had noticed between her city and this new one was that it seemed less dreary and depressing in terms of sheer looks. The swordswoman had decided that it was because the vampire and demons from her world hadn't had the chance to take over yet; this was comforting to her. For now, she just needed to focus on what was most important.

Setsuna quickly turned away from the window and made her way directly over to Konoka, who was still sitting on the couch. She once again kneeled down and bowed her head, causing Konoka to stare at her with a slightly embarrassed look. "Master...since you have created me, I am making it my top priority to ensure your safety. From this moment on, I will be by your side in order to protect you...it's my vow as a slayer..."

Asuna was starring the whole time from her chair, trying her best not to laugh at how awkward her roommate looked. "Oh man! This is too much...there's no way all this is actually happening...I feel like a complete friggin nut job..."

Setsuna turned to face the now laughing red head and quickly brought out her sword, pointing it in her direction. Asuna immediately stopped. "I can assure you...Red...that this is very real, and that it's only a matter of time before things start to go sour here. My master will need my protection, and you will too...so I suggest you take this seriously..."

Asuna gulped and nodded. "Alright muscles, alright...I'll take it seriously...but what exactly did you mean when you said your vow as a slayer?"

"Right...I should probably explain that..." began Konoka as she got up and moved to Setsuna's side. She placed her hand on the swordswoman's arm and got her to lower her weapon. Setsuna nodded with a small smile and allowed Konoka to continue. "You see...the world I created in my story was overrun with demons after a very strong, extremely hostile vampire took over complete control by killing off all government figures and corrupting the police forces...there were some rebel uprisings, but all of their efforts failed and soon there was little hope of ever escaping the vampire's wrath..."

Asuna blinked in wonder. "Holy shit..."

Konoka laughed a little and then continued. "Anyway, the only hope for survival came from an unexpected little girl...Setsuna Sakurazaki was born as a half demon, after her mother ended up sneaking off with a bird demon who had promised to take care of her and keep her safe from the vampire. However, a few years after she was born...the vampire found out about the mixing of bloods and hunted her family down. Before she died, her mother handed her off to the bird demons in order to ensure her safety...from that day on, Setsuna trained day and night to become strong. She traveled around her world, gathering a small group of strong rebel forces who had come up with the title of slayers. Setsuna's mission in life was to seek out revenge on the vampire who had killed her family, taking out as many evil demons that she could along the way in order to bring peace back to her world..."

"You...you came up with all of that?" asked Asuna, still in awe of her friend. "Damn...and I thought you just liked drawing hot girls..."

Konoka rolled her eyes. "Again with the accusations..."

Asuna paused for a moment and looked back to Setsuna. "Hold up...you said that she was born a half demon...she looks pretty normal to me...what makes her a ha-..."

Before Asuna could finish or Konoka could even answer, Setsuna pulled off her jacket and threw out her arms to her sides. Within seconds, large white wings came out of nowhere from her back and proceed to unfold themselves. The tips of her feathers brushed against a lamp and accidently knocked it over, causing the swordswoman to panic and quickly bring them back in. She lunged for the falling light source and caught it, just before it would have landed with a crash to the floor. She quickly placed it back in its' spot on the side table before turning back around to face the other two girls, an awkward blush forming as she took in the sight of two dropped jaws.

"Uh...sorry about that..." said Setsuna awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head. "I kind of get carried away when it comes to my wings..."

Konoka continued to stare at Setsuna, completely in awe of actually being able to see her favorite character actually spread out her wings like that in real life. She had pictured it many times while she was drawing her, but Konoka had never imagined it to look this good. Good wasn't even enough to describe it; she was struggling in her head to come up with something that would do it justice.

_The way she easily brought them out with the light shining on them...it almost makes her look...beautiful...wait, wait, wait...did I just think that? I mean she looks great...but I didn't really mean beautiful...yeah...I didn't..._

It was hard, despite Konoka forcing herself to deny the odd feelings that were stirring in her heart, to take her eyes off of Setsuna. The half demon swordswoman looked exactly how Konoka had drawn her, down to every last detail. Setsuna was wearing the outfit Konoka had drawn her in for when she was fighting against her enemies; it included a tight fitting black muscle shirt, leather jacket with the arms pushed up to her elbows, one small black leather wrist guard complete with matching fingerless gloves, tight yet surprisingly flexible dark grey jeans with a white belt slung around her waist on an angle, and finally, a pair of white high tops. There was also a place for her sword to sling behind her back, making it easy for her to grab it in a hurry when needed. It was no wonder Asuna thought they were being robbed, as Setsuna's silhouette resembled one of a troublemaker. Then of course, there was the hair; that sleek raven black hair that had taken Konoka hours to work out to have it look just right, placed up expertly in a side pony. She was still staring at her handiwork brought to life, when she felt a nudge to her arm followed by a devious giggle.

"Geeze Konoka...if you don't blink your face will freeze like that..." whispered Asuna. "...I think you might find it interesting that my gaydar is going haywire right now...any ideas for why that could be?"

"Nope...no idea..." she replied as she pushed the red head away. "...you should probably get it looked at, I think it's broken..."

"Um, excuse me master..." began Setsuna.

"Just...just call me Konoka alright?" she smiled as she turned her attention back to the swordswoman. "Master makes me sound all...evil or something..."

"Or kinky..." laughed Asuna, trying to get as much fun as she could out of their new situation. She continued laughing despite Konoka shooting her dirty looks.

Setsuna was completely oblivious to the exchanges going on between the two girls and continued on. "Alright...Konoka...I was just going to ask if you had any plans in case of an emergency situation where we need to escape..."

Konoka and Asuna both looked at the swordswoman like she had three heads. "Why would we ever need to do that?"

"Well, I have a feeling that since I was mysteriously brought here...that it's quite possible that the demons and that Vampire scum sucker were probably brought here too...and if that's the case, then your life may very well be in danger..."

"That's stupid...it's a billion in one shot that you even made here..." said Asuna sarcastically as she made her way to the fridge for a drink. "...there's no way you're creepy little buddies made it out too...and why would our lives be in danger even if they did?"

Setsuna walked over to her and slammed her fist down on the counter. "Your lives are in danger...because Konoka is the creator...there's no doubt that if that vampire got out of my world too, she'd be looking to destroy the person responsible for creating the slayers...the person responsible for creating me..."

Upon hearing this, Konoka ran to her room and quickly flicked her light on. She then made her way over to her desk and picked up her drawing binder, taking a deep breath before opening it. As she flipped through the pages, her heart began to race as one by one, they showed their blank sides. Every single drawing Konoka had created had vanished, including the one of the very person Setsuna had showed concern over. The binder dropped from her hands just as Setsuna and Asuna came to the door. They saw a look of shock on the chocolate haired girl's face as they quickly made their way over to her.

"Konoka, what's wrong?" asked Asuna as she grabbed onto her roommate's shoulders.

"I think we may have a problem..." she replied as she looked down at her book.

Setsuna knelt down and picked up the binder, opening it and running her fingers across the empty page as if it reminded her of something. She then looked to the other two girls with a serious expression. "I knew it...somewhere out there...she'll be waking..."

"In that case, I think it's a good idea for bird brain here to become your new sidekick Konoka..." said Asuna as she motioned to the swordswoman with her thumb. "I mean...it's not like that blood sucker can sense who I am right?"

"Yeah I guess..." replied Konoka. Then a thought popped into her head. "That means...She's gonna have to come to the shop with me...how am I gonna explain that to Haruna and them?"

Asuna laughed. "Just introduce her as your new girlfriend..." she stopped as Konoka punched her in the back of the arm. The red head rubbed the spot where there was sure to be a bruise and continued to laugh. "Alright, alright...geeze...say she's an old friend from elementary school back when we lived in Kyoto..."

"I guess that's all we can do right?" sighed Konoka as she glanced over to her new protector. "Well...since we have the day off today...maybe we should make a visit with gramps...he has all those books and everything...maybe he can tell us if someone used magic or something..."

Asuna covered her ears and began to jump around. "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU, MAGIC ISN'T REAL!"

Setsuna looked at the red head in confusion. "How can you say magic isn't real?"

"Setsuna has a point Asuna..." began Konoka. "...I mean...we have a manga character, who was once on paper now talking to you...I'm pretty sure it's safe to say magic exists..."

"STILL NOT LISTENING! LALALALALALALALA..." continued Asuna.

Setsuna joined Konoka and leaned in to whisper to her as she kept an eye on the crazy looking roommate. "Konoka...does Red usually act this way? If so...do you think it wise for me to maybe...take her out?"

Konoka laughed and shook her head. "Oh trust me Setsuna, this is a pretty normal occurrence here...I guess you'll figure that out soon enough. Come on, let's go get some sleep...we got a long day to get through...and I need a little break from this dream..."

Setsuna bowed her head slightly and followed Konoka to her room where she grabbed a few pillows and a futon from her closet to lay down on the floor next to her bed. The swordswoman then proceeded to remove her clothing, causing Konoka to quickly blush and cover her eyes before reaching out and turning off the light. The two girls then got under their covers and lay down, waiting for sleep to come, both knowing that it wouldn't for a long time.

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Two men were walking down the street, laughing and horsing around as they lazily made their way home from a bar. It had been a long night of dead ends when it came to trying to pick up women, and the two friends had decided to call it a night a few hours earlier than they would have normally. Now as they walked down an empty street singing drunkenly with each other, they almost missed the slender girl leaning against a building all by herself. One of the friends stopped quickly and grabbed onto his buddy's arm, signalling for him to stop and take a look at what was right in front of them. The second one to notice was the braver of the two, and decided to take it upon himself to see what was up with the attractive looking girl; maybe see if she was lonely and wanted to come back to his place for the night. He pushed his friend aside and slowly made his way over, trying his best to look like he did this kind of thing all the time. He came to a stop right next to her and leaned his hand against the wall behind her.

"Hey there miss...what's a pretty little thing like you doin out here in a place like this?" he asked in what he thought was his best swagger having voice. "You look awful lonely out here...why don't you come back to my place...maybe have a drink?"

Before he even knew what was happening, the young girl moved in a flash and bent his head sideways, biting into his neck as she did so. After a few muffled screams, his body fell limp as all blood was drained from him. His friend had no idea what was going on, and from where he was standing it looked like his buddy was getting some lucky touch time. All colour left his face though, as he watched the girl drop his friend's lifeless body to the ground before shooting her gaze straight towards them. Panic set in as she slowly made her way towards him. He turned to run, but came face to face with a small group of beings that looked like they were straight out of a nightmare. He screamed in horror as they closed in on him, calling out to the girl for help.

"It was so nice of your friend to offer me a drink..." she began as she came to a stop a few feet in front of him. The girl then smirked and glanced at the beings holding him. "I was feeling rather hungry...and by the looks of it, so are my friends...what kind of leader would I be if I denied them a good meal..."

With that, she snapped her fingers and the man let out one last ear splitting scream as the beings came down on him. A few left and made for the other body that the girl had discarded just a few moments before. By the time they were done, it was as if the two men had never existed. The small group collected themselves together and made their way back to the girl, kneeing before her once coming to a stop. One girl broke away from the group and stood just a few feet in front of their leader.

"They have been erased... master Eva..." said the short, terrifying looking girl.

The Vampire Eva nodded with a smirk. "Good Chachazero...I hope the meal sufficed...by the looks of it, we should have more than enough to survive here..."

"Where exactly are we master?" replied Chachazero as she glanced around with a disgusted face. "I don't like it here...It's too...happy..."

The vampire turned away and scanned the area. She had to admit that her minion was right; this place was way too happy for her liking. She laughed as she thought about what this world could hold for her. One thing was for sure, she would definitely have to change the feel and scenery around here. She then remembered when she first woke up in this strange new world, that her number of minions had greatly decreased. The vampire could sense their presence in the area, and it would only be a matter of time before she found the rest of them. She also picked up on a few other presences that made her dead skin crawl. Somewhere out there...was that half blood and the slayers. The strongest sensation she felt though was something brand new to her, causing her to focus on it completely; her creator was out there as well, and by the feel of it she was with the half blooded swordswoman. Eva swore then and there, that she would hunt every last slayer down...and take out whoever it was that had caused her all of these problems in the first place. Now she turned back to face her small group of dedicated followers.

"You're right Zero...it is way too happy here isn't it?" she said with an evil smile. "I think it's about time we have a little...fun..."

The sky around them filled with menacing laughter as all of the demons took off in various directions, excited to begin their play date with the new world. The vampire stood there, Chachazero by her side as she felt a rush of power course through her. How long would it take for her to find those sleeping girls only a few kilometers away?


	3. Her Fantasy, Their New Reality

**Oh hey...long time no see on this story huh? Well, I'm back and ready to get more of this show on the road!**

**Sorry for taking so long to update after exams were over...some things have come up that have really interfered with me...but let's not talk about that crap, let's enjoy some good ol' KonoSetsu-ness**

**And yes...I got the idea of slayers from Buffy...it's not my fault that Setsuna would be so kick ass as a vampire slayer! It's meant to be!**

**Look out for PP! Sometime soon!**

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**There Goes My Hero **

**Chapter 3**

**Her Fantasy, Their New Reality**

The air around the city just before sunrise was blowing around in cold spurts as a dark figure sat crouched on top of an apartment building's roof. Its' eyes were squinted; doing their best to scan the city skyline for any traces of danger. After what felt like the thousandth time, the figure sighed and rubbed its' eyes before standing up; the sun was now beginning to rise.

Setsuna had decided to head up to the roof top shortly after she heard the soft sounds of her master falling gently into a deep sleep. She knew that there were just too many things running through her mind right now for sleep to come to her. Now as she stood looking out at the city slowly coming to life below her, she couldn't help but feel scared for it. These people had no idea what could become of them if the vampire had actually managed to be freed from the pages of the manga like she had been. Though they were completely safe during the day, as soon as dusk crept in their lives would hang in the balance. Usually, the half demon slayer wouldn't so much as blink twice at the horror that was the demon world; but now was different. Something was off, she felt like something was missing from her. It had taken Setsuna nearly all morning to figure it out, but it had finally come to her when she tried to use her inner demon powers.

_I...I can't sense them...I can't sense her...my one link that I share with those monsters seems to have completely vanished...I...I don't understand how I lost it! Is it possible that somehow, passing through from my world to this world has caused me to forgo any mental link I have as a demon? I am only half, so they aren't as strong as that vampire's or even the other demons... I still have use of my wings...but my demon sight is null and void...I gotta find out what's going on, especially if she can still track me...I wonder if the others are here, and if so...are they gonna be alright?..._

Setsuna reached over her shoulder and smiled, instantly feeling a wave of relief rolling through her as she felt her long, slender fingers wrap around the hilt of her sword. For some reason, just knowing that her weapon was so close to her felt more comforting than being surrounded by even the largest group of warriors. It was said that the special sword had been left to her by her father before the vampire had come to take his life. It was the only thing she had left of him now, and if one were to look closely, he had even had Setsuna's mother's name carefully engraved into the base of the blade. The half demon also felt that this was the reason she felt so protected; it was as if her parents were right there with her at all times. Setsuna carefully pulled it out of its' sheath, smiling as she heard that all too familiar sound of steel brushing against its' sides. She closed her eyes and gently lowered the sword in front of her with one hand, coming to a stop at shoulder level and left it pointing out towards the strange city laying out before her.

_Father...Mother...I have seen too much pain and suffering in our world thanks to that blood sucker and her minions...I know all too well what she is capable of doing to the poor unsuspecting souls here...I swear to you...and to our creator and master...that this world will not suffer the same fate as ours...I will make sure of it...she will finally meet her end by our sword Father..._

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"Oh maaaaaaan, it's soooooo early!" whined Asuna as she made her way out the front doors of their apartment building. "...it should be illegal to up at this time, I mean, it's a friggin holiday for cryin' out loud!"

Konoka scoffed and rolled her eyes as she made her way past her friend and continued to walk towards the bus stop. "Oh come on Asuna...I realize that with everything that happened last night, you lost out on sleep...but this is important. The faster we get to gramps, the faster we get to finding a way to figuring things out...I would have let you stay there to sleep but..."

"But bird brain here insisted I come along..." sighed the red head irritably as she sent a look towards their new roommate. "I don't understand why...she's supposed to be your bodyguard after all..."

Setsuna completely ignored the look, as she was constantly looking around to try and take in every detail of her surroundings. "Even though it's highly unlikely that the vampire or the demons would attack you during the day...you are still linked to my master and are therefore at just as high of a risk..."

"What did I tell you about the master thing?" sighed Konoka as she nudged the slayer's arm next to her. "It's Konoka...just Konoka is fine..."

"Sorry Konoka..." replied Setsuna with a small look of shame crossing her face followed by an odd blush for slipping up in front of her creator. "...I was just trying to get through to Red here about how serious the situation is..."

Konoka smiled at the look she was getting from her new protector. She couldn't help but think that the way Setsuna's dark eyes looked when they had a hint of sadness, were kind of cute on her. As soon as this thought crossed her mind, she felt her cheeks slightly begin to blush and quickly shook her head to rid herself of the odd feeling. She panicked as she tried to convince herself that all of these weird thoughts and feelings that she'd been having since meeting her creation come to life last night was all simply because of that fact; something she had drawn had come to life, real life, and not even a person dressed as Setsuna could do the slayer justice. She imagined that anyone in her position would react the same way, so it was natural for her to be like this. Konoka smiled to herself with determination as she allowed this thought to stick. There was no way she could be into Setsuna, she was just in a slump with men was all...

"Geeze what's with the whole Red thing Setsuna?" asked Asuna as she continued to rub at her eyes. "If Konoka is allowed to get you to call her by her name, then why can't you call me by mine?"

Setsuna perked up again and smirked towards the sleepy looking girl. "I just get the feeling that you're as fiery as your hair colour...so...I'm just gonna stick with that..."

Konoka laughed as she came back into the conversation. "Wow...not even a full day here with you and Setsuna already has your personality down Asuna...that's pretty impressive..."

Asuna was about to snap back with some sarcastic comment when she decided that maybe she would have some fun instead. She smiled deviously and leaned closer to her long time friend. "What's really impressive is that bright shade of red that lights up your face whenever you look at that kid...kinda makes you wonder why that is...doesn't it?"

The red head laughed as Konoka's face turned from happy go lucky to irritated and angry in a flash. She loved pushing her best friend's buttons, especially when it came to calling her out on her sexual preferences. Asuna may not have been the best when it came to school, but she wasn't stupid. The red head had always had a feeling that her best friend felt the same way about girls that she did, and that it was only a matter of time before the chocolate haired girl would finally give in and come to terms with it. Konoka could deny it all she wanted, but it still didn't change the fact that deep down inside her heart, she was attracted to girls.

The small group of three didn't have to wait for very long when they did finally reach the stop for the bus to come. They all clambered on the already packed bus and stumbled slightly as it jerked away from the curb and made its' way back down the street. Konoka and Asuna both watched as Setsuna's eyes darted to everyone around her. Since Konoka had created her in a post apocalyptic world setting in the manga, the half demon had rarely had the chance to use, let alone be used to seeing vehicles such as this one. She was on edge, not sure what to expect from being in such close quarters with all of these strangers. Every bump that caused for a person to lightly fall into her, made her tense up. She practically jumped when she felt the man next to her make a move for his inside pocket, grabbing onto Konoka's hand and gently pulled her behind in an attempt to get in between her master and the criminal. She calmed down however, when Konoka realized what was going on and tapped her on the shoulder to point out that the man was just grabbing his cell phone. The slayer turned and sent the chocolate haired girl an awkward smile as she scratched the back of her head, laughing a little at her own nerves. Once she calmed down, the rest of the ride went by smoothly and she even admitted to enjoying getting around the city in this way.

Asuna was sure to let Konoka take the lead as they made their way slowly up the walk to her grandfather's house. She tried her best to walk extra slow, frowning as she took in the sight of the small home in front of them. The red head began to mumble to herself, catching the attention of Setsuna. "Gods this house gives me the creeps...I still don't understand how Konoka could spend so much time here as a kid..."

"What exactly is so creepy about this place?" whispered the slayer as she slowed down to match the pace of the red head.

Asuna sighed and face palmed. "Oh trust me...you'll see what I'm talking about as soon as that door opens..."

Setsuna sent a look of confusion to the taller girl who just shook her head as they continued on behind Konoka. She was completely at a loss as to what the red head was talking about. After all, they were only seeing her master's grandfather and if he was anything like who Konoka was turning out to be, there should be nothing to worry about. She shook her confusion off and decided that the red head was just being ridiculous; as to be expected from someone who wasn't as experienced as she was when it came to dealing with creepy things.

Konoka came to a stop in front of her grandfather's door and gently knocked on it. She sighed, thinking that maybe it was a little too early for him to be up now; imagining how upset Asuna would be if she got up so early for nothing. Fortunately for her, a few seconds later the handle to the door began to turn. As the door opened, her face lit up with a happy smile. "Good morning gramps!"

As soon as her eyes landed on the old man in the door way, Setsuna cringed and jumped back to hide behind Asuna. The slayer had seen many horrific things in her day; everything from demons literally tearing apart bodies piece by piece and that vampire suck a whole village dry. As soon as she saw Konoka's grandfather step out of the doorway and into the morning sunlight however, she became a cowering mess. He just looked so...awkward...what with a hunched over and short stature complete with basically squinted shut eyes and abnormally large head. Aside from all of that, the half demon slayer had never seen anyone as old as he was. It was frightening to her that he was even able to walk at his age, let alone look as energetic as he did with the way he was lifting his granddaughter off of her feet with the hug he was giving her. With the way things were in her world, Setsuna had never really seen an elderly person; he was alien to her.

Asuna laughed as she leaned back to whisper to the cowering half demon behind her. "Well looky here...oh how the mighty have fallen huh?...Now do you get it?"

Setsuna gulped as she leaned out to the side of Asuna to take another look. "Y-yeah...I-I get it...is it even possible to get that old Red?"

Konoka laughed as her grandfather gently brought her back down the ground, patting him on the head as he did. She always thought it was so funny how the old man got so excited to see her, even though it had only been a few hours since her last visit. She looked down into his squinty eyes and smiled.

"So, what brings you and your friend Asuna here so early this morning?" he asked her with a smile in return, already knowing what should be coming next.

Konoka sighed and turned to face Asuna, becoming slightly confused when she caught a glimpse of the slayer hiding behind her. "Uh...right...well, you aren't gonna believe this gramps...but Asuna and I sorta have a new roommate..."

The old man raised his eyebrow. "A new roommate you say dear? Well...isn't that nice."

"Yeah well you see...there's a little more to it than that..." began Konoka with a small laugh. "Well...she kinda just...showed up...out of nowhere..."

Old man Konoe continued to play dumb. "Well, she must be rather impressive if you just met and she got you to make her your new roommate so suddenly..."

"Well no...it's more li-..."

"This kid here showed up randomly at our place last night...out of the blue, straight from the pages of Konoka's manga!" yelled Asuna, as she grabbed onto the slayer's arm behind her and yanked the still cowering girl out in front of her. "Do you see this? This is weird...there's no way she should be here right now...she's a cartoon character for gods' sake!"

"...like that..." finished Konoka as she face palmed.

It was quiet for a few moments as old man Konoe took in the sight before him. He looked from one girl to the other being sure to pay special attention to his granddaughter, who was now looking at the oddly timid looking raven haired girl with a small smile on her face. It was at that moment that perhaps the oldest body in the world began to jump around and laugh in celebration. All three girls stared, Asuna and Setsuna both moving closer together and further back from the crazy looking ancient in front of them. Despite the look of panic growing on the two girl's faces, Konoka was just staring with her jaw dropped.

"Ha! This is just amazing!" began the old man as he continued to dance around. "I was worried that it wasn't going to work! I mean...I've never tried such a spell before...I thought that the chances were slim...oh I'm so glad it worked out!"

"Sp-spe-spell?" stuttered out Asuna quietly from beside Setsuna.

"It...it was...you?" asked the slayer.

Konoka shot a look from her grandfather to Setsuna and back again. She felt as if she was about to pass out with the way her head was now spinning upon hearing this new information. Despite having the feeling that there must have been some sort of supernatural powers behind all of this, it was still shocking to hear that magic did indeed exist; and preformed by her own flesh and blood no less. The more she thought about it, the more her head began to spin. The last thing Konoka remembered seeing before her body finally gave in and passed out, was the image of raven black hair in a side pony quickly making its' way towards her.

About a half an hour later, Konoka slowly began to stir as her eyes gently forced themselves open. At first, she was blinded by the light coming from her grandfather's small living room as she was laying face up on the couch. After blinking a few times and rubbing at her eyes, Konoka sat up quickly remembering what had caused her to pass out in the first place. She had thousands of questions to ask her grandfather, both in regard to the recent developments with Setsuna as well as random things about magic in general. However, sitting up as quickly as she had made her eyes begin to spot over with dizziness and she felt as if she was about to smack back down on the arm of the couch again. Just as she began to slump sideways, she felt something rush quickly to her side. It took her a second to shake out her head and rid herself of the spots, but as soon as she regained clear sight she turned her head upwards; she regretted it instantly as she felt that odd sensation of a blush once again form on her features.

"Konoka...are you alright?" asked Setsuna as she helped to prop up her master against her. "You really shouldn't get up like that...your body hasn't had time to adjust..."

Konoka gently pushed herself off of the slayer, waving her off nervously as she slowly inched away. "Y-yeah, I'm fine Setsuna...no need to worry about it and thanks for the help..."

Setsuna was completely oblivious to the nerves radiating off of the girl next to her, and simply sent her a small smile as she rubbed the back of her neck. "It was no problem...besides, my vow as a slayer states that I must be there to not only protect you from demons and that vampire, but also to help you in any way I can...plus...I'd much rather be out here...with you... than in that kitchen..."

"Why? What's going on in the kitchen?" asked Konoka while she forced away a blush from the comment, sending Setsuna a squinted look of confusion.

"Well...it's not so much what's happening..." began the slayer as she leaned back into the couch. "...so much as the awkward tension building up in there between your grandfather and Red..."

"Oh gods..." replied Konoka with a sigh as she pushed herself up from the couch, quickly making her way into the kitchen with Setsuna tagging along only a step behind.

The slayer was right; the tension that could be felt flowing throughout the room was almost unbearable. As soon as the two girls stepped from one room to the next, they could feel the heavy weight of it come crashing down onto their bodies. Apparently while Konoka was unconscious, Asuna had taken it upon herself to try and find out information from the old man. Unfortunately, the red head hadn't even gotten herself through the first five minutes of talking about magic before she broke out into hysterics over how insane Konoka's grandfather was. It also hadn't helped that Setsuna wasn't being of any use whatsoever, keeping silent and trembling slightly in the farthest corner away from the old man. She only spoke once after Asuna began to lash out, pointing out to the red head that the only one who looked to be insane right now was her. After that, old man Konoe and Asuna decided to just sit at the table in silence; both feeling irritated with each other's stance on the supernatural, and waited for Konoka to come too.

Konoka looked form her grandfather to Asuna and sighed. "Sooooo...I take it we didn't get anywhere with our situation then?"

"Course not..." mumbled Asuna under her breath. "Can't get anywhere with all the crazy that's coming out of your grandfather..."

Old man Konoe simply scratched at his beard, ignoring the red head completely. "Well, as I told you before...I am the one responsible for bringing your new friend here to life..." he then quickly shot a raised eyebrow look towards an irritated looking Asuna. "...Using magic..."

Konoka raised a hand towards Asuna before she had a chance to make a comeback. "Alright...so magic is real, got it...but, why would you ever decide it was a good idea to unleash all of my characters...including the evil ones...from my manga to our world?"

The old man was about to answer when he quickly stopped himself. His only goal was to bring that raven haired girl to life so that she could bring out the feelings hidden deep within his granddaughter. Konoka was supposed to fall for the slayer, giving into her desires that he had felt from her when she showed him her drawings; that was the whole reason he performed the spell in the first place. Now, upon hearing that she wasn't the only character who was brought to life, he began to panic in his head.

"I'm sorry...but did you just say that...all of the characters managed to come out of the pages?" he asked Konoka as calmly as he could.

"Yeah...every last one..." replied Konoka with a weak nod from Setsuna and sigh from the red head down the table. "We know because Setsuna...she got me to check the binder last night...and the rest of the pages were completely blank."

"M-meaning that vampire scum sucker is probably out there hiding somewhere...waiting to make a move..." added the slayer from behind her master.

"...oh no...oh no, no, no..."

Old man Konoe shot out of his seat faster than Konoka had ever seen him move and made his way to the desk in his room. He quickly threw open the doors to the secret little magical workspace and instantly brought his eyes down to the still open book from the night before. His squinty eyes hurriedly flew down the page, finger dragging across each word as he went. The old man could have sworn that he had followed the directions to the spell exactly and was positive that he hadn't messed up on any of the incantations. After looking them over twice, he felt completely confident that he had done nothing wrong there. He then brought his attention down to the list of ingredients; squinting more so than usual in order to try and see the faded wording better. From what he could tell, the old man hadn't missed a thing when adding the ingredients together. He then sighed and straightened up; thinking hard about what possibly could have gone wrong in order for the spell to become so strong that it brought the whole manga to life. As he scratched at his bread, he heard the soft steps of his granddaughter, and who he figured to be her new companion coming to a stop at the doorway to the bedroom. He was just about to turn towards them and tell them the news of not knowing what had happened, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He slowly reached out his long, boney fingers and grabbed a small jar that he had left sitting out. Bringing it closer for inspection, the odd feeling he had started to grow larger in the pit of his stomach. After a few seconds of staring, it had hit him; there was far too much blackened powder missing. He then gulped and brought his attention back down to the ingredients list. As soon as his eyes landed on it, they grew the widest they had ever been in years, freezing him in place; it was then horribly apparent what he had accidently done.

"Oh...oh dear..." he muttered to himself as he continued to stare without blinking at the nearly empty bottle in his hand.

Konoka quickly rushed over to her grandfather's side as soon as she saw him freeze up. She made it to him just as the muttered words left his mouth, causing her to suddenly panic. "Gramps what's wrong? Why are you staring at the jar like that?" she paused and looked down at the ancient looking text on the table, taking in the words on the page. Her own eyes grew wide before she quickly shot a glance back to Setsuna still waiting at the door; it finally clicked. "...don't tell me that...that this was the spell you used to bring Setsuna to life...but you somehow made...made a mistake?"

Old man Konoe could feel Konoka's hand tense up on his shoulder as he nodded a yes to her question. "Unfortunately it seems that I was in so much of a rush and high spirits to do this spell...that I misjudged the amount of this super powerful blackened powder that needed to be added." He sighed as he placed the jar back down to its' original spot. "...by adding a handful instead of the required pinch...I've brought nothing but pure horror to this world..."

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

There was a loud creak as rusty steel doors slowly pushed inwards at an old and abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The small, odd looking silhouette was all that could be seen along the wall from the bright light of the day that had entered the pitch black area. As soon as the figure entered, it quickly turned and slammed the door shut; putting an end to the blisteringly bright light. Without another sound, it made its' way slowly through the building. Moments later, the figure stopped after climbing a large set of stairs in front of an old, decrepit door; knocking once to signal it wanted to enter. After hearing an unenthusiastic acknowledgement, it slowly pushed the doors inwards and stepped into the dark room.

"The scouting mission has been completed Master..." said the sweet yet deadly high voice of the demon doll Chachazero. "...even though I didn't get a chance to hunt any souls to erase, it was pretty fun!"

From across the room and sitting in an old office chair facing away from the door, there was the sound of a tongue clicking in irritation. The owner of that click sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. "...don't lie to me Zero...I know that you picked off some prey on your way back..." The chair slowly turned around, and with a wave of her hand the evil vampire Evangeline light up the room in a dim light. She smirked as she sent an icy stare to her right hand minion. "...I can smell the fear on you from here...you reek with it..."

Chachazero sent a creepy innocent smile back to her master before putting her head down to eye the sharp blade resting in her tiny hands. "I'm sorry master...I couldn't help it. It wasn't my fault that human man decided to walk down that alleyway..."

"I'm sure it wasn't Zero..." Evangeline laughed lightly as she sat up in her chair. "...as much as I'd like to applaud you for your erasing efforts, I feel that now is not the time. You are the only one in this group who can go out in daylight...that's why I entrusted you with such an important job. If you were to draw to much attention to yourself by taking out those souls...who knows what those wretched slayers would have done. We can't afford to have them figure out we're here before we have our bearings...by catching the upper hand, they won't stand a chance when we finally make our full force attack on this awful city..."

"I'm sorry Master..." said the demon doll with an irritated sigh. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind on the next outing..."

Evangeline smirked again as she got up and crossed the room, making her way slowly out the door with Chachazero in tow. She came to a stop at the railing on the balcony overlooking the entire abandoned warehouse. With the same wave of the hand she used in her makeshift room, the vampire easily light up the giant building with the same dim glow. She then leaned over the railing, taking in the horrific yet pleasing sight in front of her. Hundreds of demons of every size and variety were lounging around the warehouse, trying to find ways to keep themselves busy until nightfall. It was a hellish sight; many of the demons had resorted to picking small fights with one another, stopping just before the winning decapitation as was the rule of their reigning master. The vampire couldn't help but to laugh evilly to herself as she took it all in. Her army was nearly all accounted for, and soon her true bout of terror on this world could begin; no more of these small hunting outings, but the real all out war.

Evangeline glanced over to her shoulder briefly to catch the demon doll's attention before returning her gaze to her minions. "...at least tell me that your scouting mission was successful..."

"Yes Master...it was very successful!" answered Chachazero as she playfully tossed her favorite blade from hand to hand. "I'm excited to announce that I've managed to not only spot, but also track the half blood slayer..."

The vampire's eyes grew wide with a mix of rage, as well as sheer excitement at the good news. She had been waiting to get a location on her number one nemesis's location. Her sharp, light fingers gripped on to the railing in anticipation as she continued. "Good...what's its' status?"

Chachazero stopped tossing her blade and instead used it to scratch the back of her neck as she delivered her report. "It seems the half blood is holding up at an apartment complex in the middle of the city...I managed to get a visual on her this morning on its' roof. However...she was later on the move and traveled to a small house on the other side of town...after that I left, figuring that she would only be making her way back to her original hideout later..."

"So the half breed is in the city's center..." mumbled the vampire to herself as she rubbed at her chin, deep in thought. "It doesn't seem like the usual hideout for a slayer...it must be playing something..." she paused in thought for a moment before asking another question. "...was it alone?"

"From what I could see Master, she was the only slayer in the immediate area..." replied the demon doll instantly. "In fact, I don't even think she realizes that the others are even here for sure...there were also two girls with her..."

Evangeline's interest finally peaked, and she slowly turned to face her second in command. "You say there were two other girls with her? What did they look like? Was there anything that would give evidence that she's still with the creator?"

Chachazero smirked. "One girl was tall and cranky looking with red hair in twin tails...the other was curvy with chocolate brown hair...also, the second girl mentioned seemed to have the half bloods complete interest...the slayer wouldn't leave her side...does that mean Curves is the creator?"

The vampire once again turned around to look down at her demon followers, tightening her grip on the rail as she did. For a moment there was complete silence; broken when Evangeline slowly began to laugh manically. Her face started to twist into a horrific smile as she began to answer the demon doll's question.

"...only a short time longer until our attack begins..." she started; still smiling like an image from a nightmare. "...that half breed better prepare herself...as I will be the one to personally remove the creator from her cold, dead, fingers..."

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

"So...let me get this straight..." began Asuna as she leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "You're trying to tell me that you...ACCIDENTALY managed to add way too much of a super powerful and rare ingredient into you freaky weird magic mix...and now we're looking at a demon apocalypse?"

Old man Konoe sighed as well before answering. "Well...to sum it up...yes."

"Well that's juuuuuuuuust great..." yelled Asuna as she threw her arms into the air. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Setsuna sat at the end of the table in the seat the farthest away from the old man with Konoka sitting by her side. "The only thing we can do is take them out before they can make their grand attack...that's when your world will fall into darkness like mine did, and your survival rate with quickly fall..."

"Setsuna...that can't be the only thing we can do..." said Konoka as she looked into the dark eyes of her new protector. "Isn't it too dangerous for you to go out on your own and try to take all the demons on? I mean, usually you have the help of the other slayers...and we have no idea where they are right now..."

Upon hearing that the old man had slipped up with the spell and was the cause for releasing the entirety of Konoka's fantasy world upon reality, the small group had sat down to try and figure out what their next move should be. Once Asuna finally gave in to the idea that this was serious, she gave her undivided attention to the cause; offering out some ideas that may help to protect themselves. Setsuna, who had dealt with this type of situation many times before, had of course shot them all down; none of the red head's tactics would be strong enough to put a stop to an enraged vampire with a vengeance.

The swordswoman was still concerned however, when it came to her master's safety. Since arriving in the strange new world, she couldn't help but feel like she needed to give her all to this beautiful girl who gave her life in the manga. She was drawn to Konoka, and had been having these strange feelings welling up inside her ever since their eyes met back in the living room only a half a day ago. These feelings were the driving force behind her stepping up so quickly and vowing to protect the chocolate haired girl, and she wasn't going to let anything come between them. Even though she was curious as to what these new feelings and pounding in her chest meant, Setsuna knew that right now was not the time; she needed to focus on preparing for the worst.

"Well mas-...I mean Konoka..." began the swordswoman with an awkward stutter as she realised she slipped up once again in front of her creator. "The first thing we need to do is track them down...it would be too dangerous during nightfall...so we'll have to try during the day. Of course, I can't afford to leave your side..."

Konoka sighed and felt her face begin to warm with a blush. She once again fought it away before moving on. "...and I need to work during most of the day...maybe I can work something out with Haruna and the others?"

"Why not just tell them that you need the afternoons off for a bit to show bird brain around the city?" asked Asuna in a light tone. "We already agreed that we'd say she was an old friend from Kyoto...so why not use that to our advantage?"

"Red's got a good point..." added Setsuna.

"Would you stop with the Red thing already? Geeze..." breathed Asuna.

Konoka tried not to laugh, but it was useless. She quickly regained her composure before moving on. "Alright, well I guess I'll do that...and I can say that Setsuna is going to be staying with us for a long time and needs a job...that way we have an excuse for her to hang around the shop so much."

"Ha! A manga character coming to life to help sell manga..." laughed Asuna. "This oughtta be good! I think I may have to pay the ol' ER a visit and watch this all go down!"

Setsuna shot a glance at the laughing red head. "The only ER you'll be visiting is the one in hospital if you keep it up Red..."

"ALRIGHT moving on..." said Konoka as she jumped in before her two friends could start up a mini fight in her grandfather's house. "Is there anything else we need to take into consideration?"

Old man Konoe looked up from his hands on the table and spoke for the first time in a long while. "Well...I can help by trying to look for a way to reverse the spell..."

Asuna shot up from her seat with a smile. "That's probably the most sane thing I've ever heard you say...I like it!"

Konoka smiled to her friend as she watched Asuna and her grandfather send irritated looks to each other. Her attention was them grabbed by a now quiet and nervous looking swordswoman beside her. Something was up with her protector, and she knew that it must have been something bad; she had created Setsuna to be virtually fearless when it came to dealing with the vampire and demons, so seeing the swordswoman like this was definitely odd. While Asuna and her grandfather moved on to arguing over various things, Konoka leaned over and whispered into her new protector's ear.

"Setsuna... what's wrong?" she began, slowly moving back slightly as she realized just how close she was to Setsuna. "You're not made to get nervous like this...has something happened?"

The swordswoman sighed before she turned to face her creator. "I wasn't going to say anything until we had found the others...but, I guess it's important that you know...my demon sight isn't working here...I can't sense any of the demons or that vampire...I'm basically flying blind..."

Konoka's eyes grew wide from shock as the news sank in. She was scared, as Setsuna heavily relied on her demon sight in order to track as well as keep tabs on the monsters who threatened their destruction. She knew how important this trait was, and also knew how nervous her protector was feeling know that she was lacking this ability. The air around Konoka slowly began to feel very heavy as the thought of her and the other's well being slowly began to crumble away. They would need to look into this as well as find the reversing spell...that was going to be their top priority. She quickly regained herself and told Setsuna not to worry about it and that she was sure the swordswoman would still be able to protect her just as well as if she still had her demon sight. Once everything was all cleared up, the girls decided that it was time to head out. Konoka needed to take Setsuna shopping for a few new sets of clothes for her to wear to the shop, and Asuna was in desperate need of some sleep. With a final hug to her grandfather followed by a shaky salute to the old man from Setsuna, the two girls made their way out the door.

Asuna was just about to follow them out, when a question popped into her head. She turned back to face the odd little man and squinted at him in confusion. "So...what reason did you even have for bringing Setsuna here in the first place? I remember you looking awfully surprised when we first told you about all of the characters coming out of the manga instead of just that feather head..."

Old man Konoe laughed and moved closer; deciding immediately that this girl had the right to know. "Look...I can tell you and I both know about Konoka's hidden feelings...we both know that she's lying to herself by going out with all of those men...I brought Setsuna here because I noticed the way Konoka looked and acted whenever she looked at that girl in her drawings. I think it's pretty safe to say that my granddaughter has fallen in love with her character, and that the only way to get her to come out with her true self was to bring Setsuna here. I'm hoping that despite the bad turn we've taken...that Konoka will still see what she's missing and fall for that swordswoman..."

Asuna stood in silence for a second and stared at the old man. Finally, she began to smile and to the old man's surprise, she placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "I'm still a little pissed that you managed to bring out a real life horror movie...but that's probably the sweetest thing I've ever heard. Konoka's a little hard headed when it comes to her true feelings...but I know that she's going to give in at some point...I'm going to help you out on this alright? Consider me the bird brain's new wing-girl...I'll have those two together if it kills me..."

With that, Asuna smiled once more before turning and heading out the door. Even the old man couldn't help but smile and laugh as he watched his only two hopes for his granddaughter's happiness travel down the street at her sides.


End file.
